After the Battle
by dragonwing71
Summary: It's been about a year since Sora has saved the worlds, and saved Kairi and Riku from the darkness that had threatened their very existance. But, it's not over...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Clear, blue water lapped upon the warm sand. The sky seemed to be filled with streaks of colors, like a water-based painting that went slightly askew. The sky would look like that for now, until the moon would slide over, darkening the atmosphere as if someone had flicked off a light switch. Tiny, glowing lights would soon follow, shimmering like frozen, white fireflies. This whole entire system would go on forever and ever.

Too bad no one ever really thought about it. Especially Sora.

The spiky, brown haired boy was casually walking along the beach, the sunsets after glow reflecting off of his pointed hair.

It had been about a year since he'd returned from his daring adventure that took place in many, unfamiliar worlds. A year since he and Riku had fought their way through darkness and lies just to get home to see one familiar face again; Kairi's. It had been exactly a year ago, when he and Riku had landed back in the ocean that was to the left now, and shoved forward to look up into Kairi's familiar blue eyes and hear her say, "You're home, Sora!"

A sigh managed to escape his lips as all of the memories seemed to sprint past his own blue eyes. At times, he wished he could relive it all again, to fight next to Donald and Goofy once more, to save Riku from a daunting future that never came, to once again look up into Kairi's eyes and hear her voice…

"Sora!"

Sora's head turned at the sound of a familiar voice, her voice.

She was standing on the island that they had built years ago. Sora couldn't help but grind his teeth at the memories of all the things that had happened at that one spot.

Kairi just grinned a playful smile and called, "You're late! Now you're going to have to fight Riku once more!"

Sora just smiled back, before increasing his speed to a run as he made his was to the island. Even though Riku was brought back to the light, he still had some powers that he obtained from the darkness.

The shed door opened as Sora ran across the wooden bridge that they had also built to traverse to the island with ease.

Kairi stood there, her smile still placed delicately across her face. Behind her, a silver-spiked haired boy turned around, his strong green eyes had a more serious manner to them. Riku soon smiled, his bangs gently swaying in the wind.

"Well, it's about time!" He said in his mysterious voice as soon as Sora's feet touched the white sand on the island.

Sora laughed before saying, "Yeah, well you were late on showing yourself back in the World that Never Was." He grinned and walked towards the tree, nimbly avoiding Riku's hand as he swung it around to slap the back of his head.

"Hey, you two! Cut it out, ok?" Kairi said jokingly, her auburn hair seeming to glow in the sunlight.

Sora laughed once more as he swung to a sitting point on top of the tree. "We're still boys, you know!" He said, twisting his head towards the tropical horizon.

"So what?" Kairi said, climbing onto the tree herself. She soon stared out into the ocean, mimicking Sora's own gaze.

Riku just leaned back against the tree's trunk, flattening his hair against the bark. He was silent for a moment, before saying, "Wonder what's happening back at Disney Castle, and all of the other worlds…"

Sora's mind was soon swept up into a tumult of memories; Donald and Goofy running around, slashing their weapons this way and that, vanquishing the darkness that had decided to reside in the one place that the king lived.

Kairi sighed in response, her eyes glancing down to the earth below. Her smile starting to vanish. "Well, at least they're all safe." She said quietly.

The two boys nodded, still staring off into space, just like the old days.

Sora just thought about everything, until it led him to here. He closed his eyes for a moment, just listening to the sound of home, the sound of his friends' breathing. The feeling that there was no more hurt that he had to endure. His eyes slowly opened and he resumed staring off into space, just thinking about the past, and what was going on at the island.

He still remembered the fateful night, when the heartless first showed up and Sora was bestowed with the keyblade. It was the night that Riku was overcome by the darkness, and Kairi had disappeared. He flipped through all of the other memories, stopping on the one where Riku had left them for the darkness…

"Um, Sora?"

Sora looked up to see both Riku and Kairi staring at him. "Huh?" He managed to mumble.

"You looked like something was on your mind." Kairi said, her blue eyes harmless.

Riku smirked and turned his head away. "Judging by Sora, he's always got something on his mind."

Sora narrowed his eyes and leaned back to where he was laying on top of the tree. His eyes gazed straight up into the darkening sky. He couldn't help but get the feeling that something was wrong. He shook his head. No, nothing was wrong at all, in fact, the stars were shining every night!

Kairi looked over at him. "Sora, are you sure that you're ok?" Another smirk escaped Riku.

Sora just said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

But in truth, the instincts that he had a year ago seemed to be pulsing through him once more, awakening every adventurous bone and tendon in his body. Something wasn't right, he just knew it…

But what?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Come on, Riku, is that the best you can do?" Sora taunted, dodging another vicious swing from Riku's red and black keyblade.

Sora swung up his own silver and gold keyblade, grinding his teeth together as the two made harsh contact, completely jarring his arm. He smiled a competitive, yet playful grin as he shoved back with more force, followed by him swinging himself around in a circle with the keyblade extended forward.

Riku soon let out a gasp of surprise as it hit his mark. Sora grinned once more, feeling triumph in actually hitting his friend, unlike the last times…

A sharp, whistling sound sliced through his thoughts, causing Sora to leap up into the air. Riku's keyblade missed his feet by inches. Riku swore, before twirling around, spraying sand everywhere.

Unluckily for Sora, who had landed at the time, slammed his eyes shut as soon as a small grain of the rough substance lodged itself into his eye. He moaned before staggering backwards, the keyblade held forward to block anymore blows.

Too bad it failed.

Riku dipped his keyblade forward, before swinging it back up in an upper cut, knocking Sora's keyblade up before he used the handle to knock him down to the earth.

Sora gasped in surprise, peeling his hurt eye to see Riku standing above him with his keyblade pointing down at him.

"Yes, it is the best I can do." Riku said, pulling his keyblade away. He offered his hand to Sora, who gladly took it, and laughed as he looked at Sora's watering eye. "Jeez, Sora. It's just a little sand!"

Sora narrowed his eyes defensively and said. "Oh yeah? Rematch! Now!" He lept forward and swung the keyblade at an angle so that it would hit Riku's rib cage.

Riku merely sidestepped it, concern beginning to form on his face. "Are you sure you're ok? You've been wanting to practice fighting all day now… and I have one slight issue with it!"

Sora lowered his keyblade, "What's that?"

"I'm hungry!"

Sora rolled his eyes, not believing that Riku, one of the toughest guys he knew, would be complaining about hunger!

"Come on, just one more round?" He asked, unaware of footsteps behind him.

"Sorry, Sora, but no." Riku said, looking over Sora's shoulder at Kairi as she walked over to where they were.

Kairi stood between the two, a quizzical look on her face. "We really are concerned, Sora." She said gently. "You're not acting the same lately." She took a step closer to examine him. "You keep acting as if another battle is just around the corner, when you've already saved the worlds. Just tell us, what's wrong?"

Riku's own face peeked over her shoulder, a light smile growing on his face, while his eyes were wrought with much concern.

Sora took a step back, followed by another, and another, and another, before he was sprinting to the tree house where they lived.

In a few minutes, he'd climbed up the rope ladder and had trotted into the room, slamming the door behind him.

He leaned up against the door, sweat beading his forehead. _I can't tell them how I feel! If I did, they'd think I'm crazy! AND I'M NOT CRAZY!!!_ Sora slid down to the floor, his mind still in a jumbled mess. _Do I SOUND LIKE I'M CRAZY!? _He blinked as he realized how he was thinking. _Oh, yeah…_

Sora stood up and walked over to his bed, sliding down to the soft sheets that covered it. His arm seemed to get a tingly feeling as the keyblade appeared once more in a shower of green sparkles. He turned his face towards it. "Well, at least I can trust you…" He said, slightly scolding himself at talking to an inanimate object.

He jumped at the sound of a fist knocking on the door.

He sighed and said, "Come in." He sat up as he noticed it was Riku.

Riku closed the door behind him, before sitting down on the bed opposite of Sora's.

He grinned. "So, what is going on, Sora?"

Sora just stared at Riku, he'd never really lied to him before, but he would never believe him. "It's nothing… that's all."

Riku cocked an eyebrow, obviously not believing his friend. He opened his mouth as if to ask, making Sora clench his teeth in anticipation, before closing it. He was silent for a moment before he grinned once more and said, "So, it seemed like Kairi was getting _pretty _close to you, huh?"

Sora was silent. "What are you talking about? Nothing's happening between us!" His face grew hot as he said this.

Riku smirked. "Oh please! You're blushing right now!"

Sora just sighed, hoping that that would get rid of the color. He was guessing it wasn't working, due to Riku's growing smile.

"Whatever." He finally said, standing up. "You don't have to tell me, but I'm not blind." He walked towards the door, the smile still spread on his face. "Later." And with that, he was out the door.

Sora just frowned, not knowing how to react. After dismissing the keyblade, he stood up and walked to the door.

Completely unaware of a black form wavering in the shadows behind him.

The sunset seemed just like the one last night. The streaked colors, the lengthening rays, along with the hint of darkness at the ridges. And, surprisingly, Sora was paying attention this time.

He was sitting at the edge of the dock that was south of their tree house, his bare feet dangling over the edge. His blue eyes just stared at it until they burned from how bright it was. He took in how its shape was so solid on the horizon, before it wavered on the ocean.

Sora looked down at the waves for a moment. The whole day, he'd been acting funny, rousing Riku and Kairi's concern. Well, Riku kept grinning his sly grin that no one could comprehend, so Sora had no idea what he was thinking.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps brought him back to reality. He looked up to see Kairi standing next to him, her eyes staring out to the sunset.

"So, what are you doing?" She asked casually, clasping her arms behind her back.

Sora shrugged, glancing over at the golden sun. "Just watching the sunset." He said casually.

Kairi looked at him, a small grin on her face. Sora couldn't help but smile back. She sat down to where her feet were also hanging off of the edge.

"You looked kind of edgy during dinner tonight," She said, "And, well, what's bothering you? Riku and I are concerned."

Sora sighed and looked away from her, back to the slowly sinking sun. "I honestly don't know, Kairi." He said, unable to hold it in any longer, "I keep feeling as if something's not right, but I just can't figure it out." He turned to her once more, hoping that maybe she'd have something, even though he slightly doubted she'd know what was wrong.

She frowned, her eyes gazing back into his. "I don't know, Sora," She said, "Maybe, since it's been exactly a year ago since you've departed from the island, you're just getting the same feelings you had the last time."

Sora turned back to the sunset. That wasn't happening, he was sure of it! Something was wrong… maybe Donald and Goofy are in trouble and I can just _sense _it? He shook that away, thinking that it was foolish.

Kairi's words soon interrupted his thoughts. "Well," She sighed, "If there were any more adventures, you did promise that you'd take me with you… remember?"

Of course he remembered. How could he forget? That was when they'd found Riku consumed by darkness, and it was when Kairi had rushed over to him, trying to make sure that it wasn't all a dream…

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Sora said playfully. "Although, you could drag me down, asking to go shopping…"

Sora soon gasped as Kairi gave him a rough, yet playful, shove in the arm.

"Would you stop comparing me to Selphie?" Kairi said, referring to their red-haired girlish friend who now lived on an island not far from theirs.

Sora laughed. "Ok, ok! Just don't eat me!"

Kairi just narrowed her eyes, before laughing in unison. They both just sat there, laughing as loud and long as they could, before Sora finally started gasping from cramps.

"Ok," He gasped, trying to get a hold of himself. Such a small thing could turn into something this big… "I think we'd better get to bed, huh?"

Kairi nodded, her auburn hair turning a deep brown in the now-dimmed light. She rose from where she was and walked off.

Sora stared after her, before sliding his shoes back on and running to catch up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Kairi? What are you doing?" Sora shouted as he ran across the pale path that made its way through Hollow Bastion.

Kairi turned around, her smile still plastered brightly on her face. "Just, come on, Sora! Don't be a lazy bum as usual!"

Sora just grunted and ran faster, trying to keep his breathing in rhythm with his steps.

He soon found himself with two corridors, each looking exactly alike. He grinned and looked around, but Kairi was no where to be found.

Starting to worry, Sora called, "Kairi! Kairi!? Where are you?" Two identical faces came hovering out of the darkness, both were Kairi's.

"I'm right here, Sora!" They taunted. Sora gasped and began to back up, his eyes widening as the heads bobbed closer. Suddenly, they multiplied, until there were 10, 20, 30? He couldn't tell.

"We're right here!" They said again. Only this time, their eyes turned dark crimson, followed by their skin turning a coal black. The odd cross like sign that was for Nobodies soon grew on their foreheads, a creamy grey color against the night.

Sora gasped. The heads seemed to enjoy the sound and zipped closer, their teeth elongating, and their faces morphing to where it looked like nothing he'd ever seen before…

Sora gasped as he jolted out of his dream. His body was covered in cold sweat, making him look as if he'd just taken a dip in the ocean.

He sat up, rubbing his temples with his index and forefingers. "Jeez, that was weird…" He whispered. He looked up, expecting to see Kairi to the south of his bed, asleep as usual.

She wasn't there.

Sora's eyebrows rose, while his heart seemed to freeze. In a swift motion, he'd lept out of bed, and ran through the door. The door slammed shut behind him, followed by him gasping at the sight before him.

It was a mass whirlwind of shadows, staying on one thing, before moving to the next. The island was shrouded in complete darkness, making it look like an eternal night. The island that had the leaning Paupu fruit tree hung lifeless and wilted, contributing its own share of shadows to the nightmarish scenery. The crystal-clear waterfall that used to shine brightly in the mornings had vanished, the pool that it would empty into dry and desolate. The most horrific thing of all, was that overhead, a dark orb hovered. Rings of wispy winds whipped around it, while darkness flowed off of it like light from a light bulb. In the very center, was a deep red color, almost the color of the eyes that was in Sora's dream.

Sora just gawked at everything. _No! This can't be happening again!_ His worried mind gasped.

He turned on his heels and ran across the dark beach. In his mind, he was 14 once more, running towards Riku, while the one haunting voice played in his head, saying, "This world has been connected…"

Sora summoned the keyblade in a flash of light that seemed to pierce the darkness for a moment, before being clouded over once more.

He stopped and looked around, one question still in his mind. Where's Kairi?

A long scream answered his question.

He turned towards the location of it; the makeshift island. He grit his teeth, before sprinting towards it.

Sure enough, Kairi's auburn hair and pink outfit could be distinguished through the gloom. She was staring down at the ground, her eyes wide and glassy.

"Kairi!" Sora called. She didn't hear him; instead she jumped back, dodging a dark, black creature by inches.

"Crap! Neon shadows… I hate these things!" Sora mumbled, watching furiously as its blue markings glowed.

Sora's pulse quickened as he sprinted faster to the shed, before bursting through the other door that lead to the island.

The neon shadow's long antennas were folded at certain points, before coming to a point at its ankles. Its legs were covered in a dizzying array of neon blue markings, earning it the haunting name of 'neon shadows.'

It felt like minutes as Sora ran across the bridge, before he finally made it. With one flick of his wrist, the keyblade sliced to the left, flourishing through the creatures shoulder before it vaporized before him.

He looked up to see Kairi standing there, her face pale and showing signs of worry.

Sora straightened up. "Kairi, what's wrong? There's only one…" His words were cut short when a large-bodied being tackled him from behind.

He twisted his body around, shuddering as he felt the creatures snake like fingers clutch his shoulders.

Sora pulled the keyblade above his head and, praying that he wouldn't miss and hit himself, brought the keyblade down in a straight path.

The heartless vanished instantly, leaving only a trail of dark specks in its midst.

"Kairi…" Sora began stepping towards her. Her face remained pale and unresponsive. "What's wrong…"

He was interrupted by the one sound he didn't want to hear. It was the sound of many dark portals opening up, revealing tons of the creatures that he had to kill a long time ago.

Kairi's hand soon raised, her palm facing upwards. A small memory flitted past Sora's mind, before Kairi said, "It's happening again…"

Suddenly, the ground shook with the roughest tremor Sora could have ever felt. His eyes stared down at the vibrating earth. The sand shifted, the tree leaves fluttered in a breeze that was directed south of the island.

"Kairi, we need to get Riku. Something bad is about to happen…" Before he could finish, the island seemed to freeze. The shaking stopped, the breeze stilled, and even the heartless were still as statues.

_I-It stopped? _Sora thought about to take a step towards Kairi to grab her hand.

And then, it happened.

As if a giant creature bashed its hideous skull against the earth underneath the two, the island suddenly tore open, revealing a dark, splintered core that looked like it never ended. More wind rushed up from it, smacking Sora in the face with plenty of force to knock him down.

The wind soon changed course and pressure. Instead of the strong breeze that was billowing earlier, it was now a strong sucking pressure, which tugged on Sora and Kairi's clothes.

The dark orb seemed to grow louder, the wisps of silver lashing faster around its spherical shape.

And through all of this madness, Sora's mind was in its own horrific whirlwind of memories and thoughts. _No… No, this just _can't _be happening again!_

The memories soon couldn't be stopped before they crowded into Sora's mind. Him floating up into the dark orb that now hung overhead like some demented moon. Him leaning over a broken shard of the island, watching in horror as his island, his beloved home, vanish before his very eyes. Memories of the towering heartless that had tangled hair, a heart insignia sliced through his stomach, small flightless wings, and burning amber eyes stand over him.

The one, and only, thing that pierced his thoughts, was one high-pitched scream that could most likely shatter glass.

Sora's head whipped around to see Kairi's thin form being yanked by the wind current into the sky. Her eyes were humongous, while her mouth was wide open, apparently shouting for him to help her.

"Kai-" Before he could finish, Sora was swept up into the void. He twisted his body around, pulling some of his back muscles in the process, to where he could look down over the island.

It was just like the last time; only the main part of the island was still intact, while the smaller one was completely destroyed. The heartless had vanished all together, leaving nothing behind.

_H-How? How can this happen again, HOW!? _Sora's mind once again cried.

A slight tugging on his leg brought him to turn his head around. Kairi was there, making her was to Sora's torso, where she wrapped her arms around his waist for something to grab onto besides drift wood.

"Sora…" She said silently, "What's happening?"

The paupu tree was soon dislodged from the island's sandy earth, dragging roots and other debris with it.

Sora stared at it for a while before saying, "I-I don't know, Kairi."

They were silent for a minute, unsure what to do. They couldn't fight their way out of this, and they certainly couldn't make a run for it.

The silence soon ended as Kairi snapped her head up and shouted above the noise, "Where's Riku!?"

Sora shook his head to register her words. As the mayhem had engulfed them, he had completely forgotten about Riku. Where _was_ he? How could he have slept through all of this!?

Sure enough, the silver-haired boy burst through the door that leads to their bedroom. His keyblade was clutched securely in his hand, the keychain attached swinging wildly. His emerald green eyes flickered around the island's landscape, taking in its bedraggled form.

His free hand clenched into a fist, obviously furious that this event was happening once again. He soon turned his back to the two teenagers that were floating up to the dark, abysmal orb that was now only a half a mile away from them.

"R-Riku!" Sora and Kairi shouted in unison. They waved their hands, screamed as loud as they could, trying to get their friend's attention.

A ferocious tug yanked on their bodies. The darkness seemed to be extending long, delicate fingers towards them, goading them to come closer into the void. Sora gritted his teeth and tried to fight back, even though he knew that all chances were futile.

Riku then turned, his mouth fell open at the sight of them floating up like endangered angels into the one thing that turned Riku into a dark being; the ultimate foe.

"Riku!" Kairi screamed. Without any warning, she dispatched herself from Sora's side, moving her arms in a swimming motion in an attempt to get to their friend.

"Kairi! No, stop!" Sora shouted. But, it was too late. The current gave another tug, sending Kairi zipping backwards into the void.

The orb seemed to grow darker with the success of getting something in it. Sora's eyes grew wide. "No… Not her…"

The words were soon whipped from his mouth, as the tugging resumed again He banged his teeth together and fought harder, trying, hoping that he'd get some distance between him and the pulsing object.

The air soon gave a whistling sound, like the sound of someone throwing a frisbee, or shooting a bullet. Instead, it was the sound of fast moving drift wood, as it propelled its way to Sora, before smashing into his cheek, throwing him back the remaining distance to the darkness.

It felt slightly different than the last time he'd touched it. He had the urge to cry out, breath in quickly, and to just relax and go through with it, all at the same time.

Everything seemed to flash a brilliant white, and for a moment, he thought he heard someone say, "No, Sora, fight it! Fight the darkness!"

Sora smiled slowly, his consciousness slowly fading away, like the feeling in his legs. Sora's eyes closed involuntarily, placing him into utmost darkness. And that's when his world seemed to come crashing down around him.


End file.
